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While my Tavish Audio Design Adagio phono stage is being serviced, the Luxman EQ-500 phono stage has taken up residence. Where the Tavish sounds warm, liquid, and lush, the Luxman is highly…

Description: Two-channel, tubed, class-A integrated amplifier. Tube complement: two 12AX7 & two 12AT7 signal tubes, four KT88 power tubes. Inputs: five pair unbalanced line-level (RCA). Outputs: Two sets of speaker posts, 4 and 8 ohm taps. Output power: 35Wpc into 4–8 ohms (12.44–15.44dBW) Ultralinear; 18Wpc into 4–8 ohms (9.55–12.55dBW) triode. Input sensitivity: 500mV for full output. Frequency range: 10Hz–50kHz ±0.5dB/5W. Input impedance: 30k ohms. THD: <0.05%/1kHz, 5W. Signal/noise: >95dB.
Dimensions: 19 5/8" (498.47mm) W × 7" (170mm) H × 16" (…

Analog sources: Kuzma Stabi R turntable and Kuzma 4Point 11" tonearm; EMT TSD15 N MC phono cartridge, Luxman EQ-500 phono preamplifier.
Digital sources: BorderPatrol DAC SE, Asus computer.
Integrated amplifier: Cary SLI-80HS.
Loudspeakers: DeVore Fidelity O/93.
Cables: Interconnect: Shindo Laboratory, Triode Wire Labs Spirit II. Digital: Furutech GT2 Pro Series USB. Speaker: Auditorium 23. AC: Triode Wire Labs Obsession NCF power cord, manufacturers' own.
Accessories: Kuzma Plastis 65 isolation platform, IsoTek EVO3 Aquarius line…

I measured the E.A.T. E-Glo I's behavior with my Audio Precision SYS2722 (see the January 2008 "As We See It") with the amplifier in all four of its operating modes: with the output stage in triode and Ultralinear modes and from the 4 ohm and 8 ohm output-transformer taps. The amplifier preserved absolute polarity (ie, was noninverting) in all four modes. The amplifier's maximum voltage gain at 1kHz into 8 ohms depended on the mode and output tap. The highest gain was in Ultralinear mode from the 8 ohm tap, at 30.8dB. In triode mode from this tap, the gain was 30.…

He used a wind-up Victrola sitting on a shelf directly in front of the cows, just below a framed reproduction of an Alpine landscape painting. He said the music and the mountain scene relaxed the cows, causing them to give better milk. Harold played the same Gustav Mahler symphony every day. I remember how quickly each disc ended, how I had to run over and change it, and how cross he got when I played the discs in the…

Carlos Cipa is a young (b. 1990), Munich-based, classically trained pianist, drummer, composer, and producer. Correlations (on 11 pianos) is his newest album. It might not be as musically deep or edgy as it pretends to be, but the exquisite textured tones and delicate reverb from its 11 radically different pianos was all the deep content I required.…

The Silkroad Ensemble represents a specific sort of intermingling. Founded by cellist Yo-Yo Ma and named for the ancient trading route that for centuries connected Asia, East Africa, and Southern Europe for commercial and cultural exchange, the ensemble seeks to promote global understanding through the blending of artistic traditions.

There may be no more powerful…

Dave Pietro is an A-list reed player who works in the finest jazz orchestras (Maria Schneider, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Ryan Truesdell). He has released eight of his own albums since 1996. With the last two, New Road: Iowa Memoirs and Hypersphere, he has emerged as a leader of importance.

Both records feature trumpeter Alex Sipiagin, keyboardist…

While Saunder Jurriaans was writing his solo debut, he became a sought-after soundtrack composer with musical partner Danny Bensi. They helped create the grim, ethereal moods of Ozark, The OA, and Fear the Walking Dead. With Beasts, Jurriaans soundscapes his own story. The result is engrossing.

The album journeys from chaos into a greater understanding, with musical timbres as the storytelling language. The opening…

The Model 10 was the first SME turntable to not use the company's familiar O-ring suspension, as well as the first to use the company's M10 tonearm, which was not available separately. The M10 was said to be a derivative of the tapered armtube 309 and, according to SME, a superior performer—though it…